Last weekend, football fans witnessed the annual NFL Draft in which 255 players were selected in seven rounds. After Tagliabue reads the name of prospective players off the draft card, life in the NFL begins.
Playing in the National Football League is a business. Since draft choices are no assured contracts, drafted players must maintain the level of preparation and performance that merited their draft choice. For many players, hearing their name announced is the culmination of years of hard work.
"It has really been a dream ever since I started playing," former Virginia and current New York Giant tight end Chris Luzar said. "My dream -- my goal -- was to play in the NFL."
The 255 players drafted in 2005 is roughly above half of the number of players available. When broken down by position, out of the 24 quarterbacks available for selection, only 14 were chosen. In addition, of the 18 strong safeties in the draft, only eight were selected. Lastly, of the 49 wide receivers to be picked, only 31 of them left Sunday night actually reporting to a team. Though the breakdown by position varies, the overall percentage of drafted players proves that there is a steep amount of competition.
According to the NFL, seven of the eight Virginia players who were declared eligible for this year's NFL draft were selected. Such a high percentage is evidence that Virginia is producing quality players who not only possess physical attributes but also necessary mental characteristics to make it in the hard-nosed NFL.
Playing football at the University has prepared many future NFL players with the tools needed to succeed.
"I have heard from scouts and others that know about the professional football business remark about the ability players have to learn the game and to learn the higher level of sophistication, both offensively and defensively," Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said. "The NFL presents a different language compared to college in many situations. I have heard that players that have come through our system have been able to pick up many of these different systems and schemes. [They have been able] to learn the language, to make the reads, to build their skills and [be] high quality in terms of their work ethics."
Mental qualities, such as work ethic and discipline, are defining characteristics for Virginia football players.
"One of the biggest things is the mental aspect," Luzar said. "Both [former Virginia] coach Welsh and [current Virginia] coach Groh run a pretty tight shift. I think that it correlates with the discipline. It has been really easy with that in the NFL. Some guys have a really relaxed college coach, but when they get to the NFL, they can't handle it mentally."
Several former Virginia football players agreed with Luzar's observation.
"As a player, you have to be mentally tough to face the challenges," former Virginia and current New Orleans Saints quarterback Aaron Brooks said. "You have to be tough to be as good as the next person but even better. Coach [Welsh] always expected mental toughness. You have to face the challenges and compete" in the NFL.
Former Virginia and current Broncos defensive tackle Monsanto Pope said discipline was the most important thing he learned at Virginia.
The challenges that Luzar, Brooks and Pope are referring to are the ones presented by the fact they face the best football athletes in the world every week during the season. A grueling 16-game regular season and playoffs, depending on the team's performance, can take a toll on the players' bodies and wear down their motivation.
The determination to succeed, planted in the psyche of current Virginia players in the NFL while they were in college, is the first step towards thriving on the bigger stage. This may help the adjustment to the professional game, but factors such as speed and the regularity of training still are differences between college and the NFL.
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